1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to video systems, and more particularly, to a technique for processing auxiliary information, such as closed caption or teletext data, in a video system that enables, among other things, an increased number of characters to be displayed per line.
2. Background Information
Video systems such as television signal receivers enable images to be displayed based on information contained in signals received by the system. In particular, such systems enable display of a main image, and may also enable display of auxiliary information such as closed caption or teletext data. Data required to produce an auxiliary information display may be included as an auxiliary information component of a video signal. Such data may define both the content and format of the auxiliary information to be displayed.
Certain types of auxiliary information may be used to produce images that represent information occurring in real-time with respect to a video program. For example, closed caption or teletext data may be extracted from a video signal and decoded to produce text in the form of a caption associated with the video program. In particular, the caption may provide a visual representation of the real-time audio component of the video program.
Existing video systems that enable display of such auxiliary information typically have limitations regarding the number of characters that can be displayed on a given line. For example, such video systems typically store received auxiliary information in a memory, and retrieve the information from memory for display on an on-going basis. Moreover, such video systems often have a hardware and/or other limitation that causes the auxiliary information to be retrieved from memory on a line-by-line basis with the assumption that each line has a given number of characters. As a result of this limitation, only a given number of characters can be displayed per line, which in some instances, causes characters to be undesirably cut off at the end of a line.
Accordingly, there is a need for a technique for processing auxiliary information, such as closed caption or teletext data, in a video system that avoids the foregoing problems, and thereby enables an increased number of characters to be displayed per line. The present invention addresses these and other issues.